We received such a great response to our last blog that we decided to do another one! Without further ado here are Elementary_Kage, Cromsnosehair and MrCroissant!

From left to right – Cromsnosehair, Elementary_Kage and MrCroissant.

Q: HELLO! How are you all today?

MrCroissant: “Never better!”

Cromsnosehair: “Brilliant!”

Elementary_Kage: “YEP. Just fine thanks.”

MrCroissant’s Four Horsemen Sketch

Q: Can you tell us a bit about some of the ideas that the design team had for Habboween 2015, before apocalypse was chosen?

Cromsnosehair: “We had fun throwing around post-apocalyptic ideas, trying to come up with an original spin on the theme whilst avoiding the obvious clichés (sorry, no zombies this time!)”

Elementary Kage’s original sketches of the Horses for the Horsemen of the Habbocalypse

Elementary_Kage: “I’ve always really liked the concept of things like the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ and the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, so all the designs geared towards those themes were really interesting for me. I did a couple of horse sketches (see image, right) trying to make them look as creepy and gross as possible, which was really fun. I love the final designs for the four horsemen though.

The brainstorming sessions were very interesting and a lot of fun. We went more in-depth with the research than we have before, to figure out exactly how we can try to implement new features and merge them effectively with our designs. Habbos were very helpful in answering questions we had about their favourite things and stuff they would like to see which helped us a lot with this process.”

Q: Could you tell us a bit about the floor pieces you made for the Habbocalypse?

MrCroissant’s Habbocalypse Floor Tiles and their multiple states

MrCroissant: “I wanted the users to be able to make a really urban scene, so the addition of the double yellow lines and centre markings will help make the floor pieces reusable for builders. The Cyberpunk line had a similar look however they looked more futuristic than present day.”

Q: What was your favourite furni to make and why?

Cromsnosehair: “I think I’m most pleased with the building pieces that I made for this campaign. They had to connect and tile with each other, they presented a technical challenge. I always enjoy seeing what builders create with these type of furni and how they combine them with other furni from older campaigns.”

Cromnosehair’s initial sketch of the building furni

Elementary_Kage: “Although I didn’t work on the Habboween furni, there’s still a lot of pieces I’m very fond of. I particularly like the masks for both the light and dark sides; I would definitely wear them myself!”

Q:What furni do you think Habbos are going to be most excited for? 

Elementary_Kage: “I think the Habbos will really like the clothes for this campaign. Not just the masks, but also the robes and armour suits. I can imagine a lot of fun events and roleplaying happening with those, which is always fun to see.“

Below, you can see the original (and slightly censored) mockup all the designers worked together to create!

Initial Habbocalypse concept sketches created by the design team, with the ‘game-changing feature’ censored.

The weather is changing, the winter coats are out, and the Builder’s Club Warehouse is full of Christmas furni, which can only mean one thing…it’s almost Christmas! In the festive spirit, we thought we would share some of the super cool stuff our awesome designers have been making for you!

So, without further delay, please give a round of applause for Kukuyit, MrCroissant, Elementary_Kage, Sparkaro, Cromsnosehair and notMiceElf!

Top, from left to right: Sparkaro, MrCroissant, Kukuyit. Bottom, left to right: Cromsnosehair, Elementary_Kage, notMiceElf

The Design Team’s initial ‘Bavarian Christmas’ sketch

Q: How much are you all looking forward to Christmas?

Kukuyit: “SO MUCH. It’s the most wooonderful time of the yeeear!”

Sparkaro: “I can’t wait! I’ve already been getting in the spirit putting up the Christmas tree and eating a tonne of mince pies.”

Elementary_Kage: “A lot – I’m looking forward to returning to my hermit state for a couple of weeks to play games, watch anime and draw. I will emerge only to scavenge for food…”

MrCroissant: “I’m really looking forward to it! I’m looking forward to eating my body weight in turkey, mince pies and pigs in blankets with my friends and family.”

Cromsnosehair: “I’m really looking forward to spending some time with my family this Christmas, eating too much and falling asleep in front of the TV.”

Sketch vibes from The Croissant.

The finished version of MrCroissant’s Wishing Well LTD! It’s getting released on the 19.12.

Q: From the Christmas furni you made, which one(s) did you most enjoy working on and why?

Kukuyit: “I enjoyed making the giant Christmas tree the most. It was the most challenging because of all the individual leaves I had to pixel, but when I saw it all come together in the end with all the decorations, it’s really satisfying. Also I think the furni evolution feature* is super cool and I hope Habbos enjoy decorating the tree as much as they like.

Sparkaro: “I really like drawing animal furni, so I enjoyed working on the reindeer and all the animations for it. I also had fun making the Alpaca, because they’re the cutest fluffy creatures.”

MrCroissant: “Out of the stuff I’ve made for new Christmas line, the furni I enjoyed working on the most was the Wishing Well, mainly because the animation was fun to do! The Squirrel and Hedgehog advent gifts were also fun to animate.”

Cromsnosehair: “I enjoyed working on the mountain background the most. It’s a pretty large furni and it presented a technical challenge with making sure it tiled seamlessly. I also had fun animating Mrs Claus bouncy top.”

* A little insider info. This is the second time we’ve ever used this feature. It’s called the ‘burning’ runtime, in memory of the first furni that ever had it, the Viking Cotie, circa 2014.”

The finished furni! This will be released on 26.12.

Radish’s sketch of the Frozen Fountain LTD.

Q: And the same question to the Head Honcho, notMiceElf!

notMiceElf: “My role is more of an overseer for the team which boils down to tweaking items or make suggestions overall to keep the furni line visually coherent.  So in that regard I didn’t necessarily make full items and don’t have a specific item that was the bees-knees for me, personally.

BUT the most enjoyable part for me is always seeing the team go from ideation / sketch to product ready and how each member adds to that process in their own way.  Each member in our team has made items that I really like looking at and I think everyone else will too.”

Q: In comparison to the Christmas lines you have designed previously, what have you guys done differently?

Kukuyit: “For this Christmas line we went back to the roots, to the (often debatable) birthplace of St. Nicolas or Santa Claus as we know him today. We kept things traditional and we wanted users to be able to build a really atmospheric room with our furni, so we went big this time. We have vast mountains, glistening snowy landscapes and tall buildings all tied together with the warm glow of the festive lights.”

Sparkaro: “We went for a more traditional winter theme this year, mainly inspired by German villages at Christmas, quite different from the Caribbean Christmas theme we did last year. We also have some exciting new features planned, including an improved advent calendar with lots of awesome prizes!”

The final version of Kukuyit’s DIY Christmas Tree, with the ALL its states included.

Elementary_Kage: “In the concept stage we started with a much firmer idea of the type of Christmas we wanted to create this time around. Last year we knew we wanted to try something different and a hot Christmas was something quite fun we’ve never tried before.

We did a lot of research and went into much finer details like the time of day and what states should and shouldn’t have snow on. This method is something we’ve been trying more and more with each campaign and it really came together in this one.”

MrCroissant: “Last year was quite a departure from the previous Christmas lines we’ve done, so it was nice to go very traditional again. And even though it is traditional, the fact that it’s set in the evening sets it apart from previous years. The contrasts between the warmer and cooler colours works really well and I think the line has come together strongly.”

Cromsnosehair: “This is the second Christmas campaign that I have worked on and compared to last year this is a much more traditional Christmas line. It’s been a lot easier to make things look festive!”

Q: Are you pleased with the results?

Kukuyit: “Yeah! I think this line looks great! As a designer I love the contrasting colours of the blues and oranges in this line, it really brings out the cold of the surroundings and the warmth of the habitable areas.”

Cromsnosehair’s finished Mrs Claus outfit. Available on the 15.12.

Sparkaro: “Yeah I’m happy with how the furni has turned out! There’s a lot of cool stuff to make a nice and atmospheric Christmas village scene.”

Elementary_Kage: “I really love what we’ve come up with this year. It feels so warm and Christmassy! It makes me want to go to a Christmas market again.”

Cromsnosehair: “Yep, I’m pretty pleased with the results – feels like Christmas to me!”

Q: Who would win in a fight to the death, Raptor-Madonna or Robot-Lincoln? WHY?

Kukuyit: “Neither! I choose Robo-Raptor!”

Sparkaro: “Raptor-Madonna sounds scarier, so probably her. But soon after victory, T-Rex-Taylor-Swift would swoop in and kill her.”

Albert the Alpaca – initial sketch.

Sparkaro’s finished Albert the Alpaca Advent Calendar gift!

Elementary_Kage: “John Cena-tron would slam-dunk them both earning the world monster weight championship title belt (crowd goes wild in the burning buildings).”

MrCroissant: “Robot-Lincoln. Nothing beats Robot-Lincoln.”

Cromsnosehair: “Robot-Lincoln crushes all who stands before him! Bow to your robot overlord!”

Q: Hey, would you draw us a picture of Frank wearing an ornate hat?

Top, from left to right: notMiceElf, Kukuyit, Cromsnosehair. Bottom, from left to right: Sparkaro, MrCroissant, Elementary_Kage

Top, from left to right: Sparkaro, MrCroissant, Kukuyit. Bottom, left to right: Cromsnosehair, Elementary_Kage, notMiceElf.

Q: HELLO, designers! How are you all today?

Sparkaro: “Hey hey! I’m doing fine thanks. Looking forward to some chocolatey Easter egg goodness.”

notMiceElf: “…It’s… it’s day time? Oh wow. I clearly need more coffee.”

Elementary_Kage: “Oh Hello! Thanks for joining us. I’m pretty good – feeling motivated!”

Cromsnosehair: “Hi there, I’m doing well thanks.”

Kukuyit: “Hello! Happy Easter Everyone!”

This Paparazzi Camera was made by Cromsnosehair.

Q: This project was a break from previous furni-focused ones, apart from the Habberge Egg LTDs of course. What was the focus on clothing design like compared to the more conventional, furni-type campaigns? 

MrCroissant: “My personal focus was looking at what was currently popular. I trawled though various design blogs for inspiration, so most of my concepts are based on contemporary fashion. I also looked at the Habbo Design Forum on .COM for ideas, which is why the pyjamas, crown and the sportswear made it into my designs.”

notMiceElf: “I’ve always found clothing production hard to get into initially. Mostly because there’s only so much you can do before items start looking too similar and drawing animation frames can be sort of repetitive (that is to say ‘zzzz’). For those reasons whenever our focus is more clothing based I do it with bared teeth and Albert Einstein hair. True to form though, the team has made some really nice items for this update. I think our users will enjoy them.” 

Kukuyit: “This was actually a pretty big project as clothing takes us longer to make because of all the animations and directions that are needed. It’s like working in the twilight zone; you just lose sense of time and space! We carefully chose pieces

Now you can look either homeless, or like a hipster! Woooo!

that we think Habbos would like to use on a daily basis as well as some quirky ones for those radical peeps out there, so we hope they like them!”

Sparkaro: “The process of designing clothing is quite different to typical furni because we have to design how the clothing will look in each direction the Habbo moves in, and add animation frames if necessary, for example adding walk animation for trousers. So we have to think a bit more three dimensionally than with furni, which can be a little mind-boggling at times. Also most clothing tends to be available in a range of colours, meaning we usually draw them in greyscale and the different colour options are applied to the clothing via code.”

Cromsnosehair: “With clothing there are far more technical limitations to take into consideration. All clothes must conform to the basic character template and how it’s divided up for animation. Sleeves are very time consuming due to all the arm animations.”

Some of the initial sketches of the clothing by the designers. (ALL of which are coming to Habbo…)

Q: Tell us about a piece of clothing or furni you worked on, and why you’re pleased with it.

Cromsnosehair: “When thinking about new clothes designs I realised that we were missing a classic piece of clothing – the cutoff jean jacket or denim waistcoat. Now you can dress your Habbo like Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead!”

Kukuyit: “Some of the pieces I did were the tuxedo outfit, new hipster hair for male avatars and hipster glasses, which I think is long overdue! My favourite one to make was the duck hat; I added a quacking animation for when the avatar speaks which I think is really cute.”

notMiceElf: “The space helmet was particularly fun to work on. Not ‘cus I like space (I do) but because it blocks out that odd ‘old person’ smell that emanates off of Frank like a crippling dust cloud of olfactory impairment.”

Sparkaro: “I worked on the Dragon Habberge Egg, which I designed a scale pattern for. I found that to be quite a challenging design to create in pixel form, but I’m pleased with how it turned out in the end! I also just like having an excuse to add a dragon into a furni to be honest. As for clothing, I made the mermaid hair, and I’m pleased with how the colours turned out on that.”

MrCroissant: “My personal favourite was the Brain Jar. It’s a pretty daft design but was fun to work on, especially adding in the coloured glow and the little brain pulse for when the Habbo talks.”

This Mermaid Hair is a rare furni, and was made by Sparkaro.

Q: If you were a fashion designer, what would your stage name be? Or line name?

Elementary_Kage: “I actually wanted to be a fashion designer for a short period of time back in school. All of the clothes I designed were inspired from anime and cartoons though so my line probably would have been ‘Anime chic’. Now I’d probably go for dystopian future fashion, functional in the event of a zombie attack!” 

Sparkaro: “My stage name would be ‘Co Co Caro’ and my line name would be ‘Hypno-chic’, as there would be lots of mesmerising spirals and swirly patterns all over the clothing.”

Kukuyit: “If I were to make a line it would be cute, feminine leather camera bags. For the life of me I just cannot find a decent, reasonably priced one in the market. For any camera bag manufacturers out there, this is a money pot idea! I’ll probably call it…’Yubnub’, after my favourite word in Star Wars, haha.”

Cromsnosehair: “My fashion designer name would be Hugo Floss and I’d specialise in bikinis.”

notMiceElf: “Marc Jacobs. That’s taken? Darn.”

Q: Draw us YOUR take on what the Habbo Easter Bunny looks like.

Elementary_Kage: “My Easter bunny is getting too old for his job and just wants to hide chocolate eggs in peace. He’s HOPPING mad at all the kids on his lawn.”

Cromsnosehair: “Mine just laid a fresh ‘chocolate’ egg.”

MrCroissant: “Mines a little derpy. He mindlessly collects eggs, as it’s all he knows how to do.”

The designer’s takes on the Easter Bunny. Top, from left to right: Kukuyit, Sparkaro, Cromsnosehair. Bottom, left to right: Elementary_Kage, notMiceElf, MrCroissant.

Top, from left to right: Sparkaro, MrCroissant, Kukuyit. Bottom, left to right: Cromsnosehair, Elementary_Kage, notMiceElf.

Red Starflowers, Yellow Dahlias, Blue Primroses and Pink Plumerias. The plant in the middle is a Rafflesia!

Q: Summer is coming, designers! Are you excited for the departure of rain, big coats and the grey skies of London?

Sparkaro: Yeah, can’t wait for the short bit of sunny weather before it’s back to doom and gloom again!

Kukuyit: Hi Habbo readers! Fingers crossed there’s lots of sun coming, last year was very rainy… boooo!

MrCroissant: I’m very excited for more sun! Can’t wait for barbecues and camping. Although, we still have plenty of April showers to get through before that… it’s not quite time to pack away the umbrella.

Cromsnosehair: Yes I’m looking forward to turning my heating off at home and getting outside to enjoy the sun!

The Jungle Platform in all its glory! (Sketch on the right).

Q: SO! Let’s get to it. This time around we have a return to a traditional furni line! Was it nice to concept an entire line, like you did for the Christmas and Habboween lines?

Cromsnosehair: It’s been a lot of fun doing the concept work for an interesting theme like this. While not being strictly fantasy it’s still an unconventional setting and provided the challenge of making sure everything looked organic or handcrafted.

Kukuyit: I think in general, full campaign lines are fun to concept. We did a lot of research for this line, looking at tropical plants and trees and figuring out how a tree house could all lock in together. Planning was very important because we needed to make sure that each furni worked well with each other so that everything looked integrated and not just stand-alone. We also needed to make sure the style and colour scheme was fit for other furni to be used alongside like the Tiki and Tribe lines.

MrCroissant: Outdoor furni usually involves lots of foliage that can be quite challenging to concept and make (at least for me). But I think it’s come together really nicely. My favourite stuff to design were the little bits and bobs you can scatter around a room to add those finishing touches.

The finished version of the Tropical Swamp is on the right.

Sparkaro: I’m glad we decided to go with the jungle theme. It was a lot of fun to concept the different types of things you’d find in a jungle, with all the tropical trees and flowers. It was interesting to think about what types of items and structures might be created using bits and pieces in the jungle or from a shipwreck, since we had the added element of Habbos being stranded and building tree houses. We came up with a lot of cool ideas and it was hard to choose between them!

Q: What do you think Habbos are going to like most about the furni line as a whole?

MrCroissant: I think a lot of the furni we’ve made for this campaign is pretty versatile and can be used with older lines, which should please building enthusiasts. Also judging by previous campaigns, Habbos seem to love trees, plants and flowers – there are plenty in this new line.

Kukuyit: Crafting is back on the table (literally!) in this campaign, and I think Habbos will have a lot of fun using the berries to ‘DIY’ their furni, giving it more of a personal touch.

This Pitcher Plant is a rare furni – and you can probably guess which one is the sketch!

Cromsnosehair: I think Habbos will enjoy using the trees and plant furni for building a truly exotic scene.

Sparkaro: I think they’ll like the new trees and plants, and all the customisable elements of the furni. We’re adding in a new way to customise furni, which I think the Habbos will have fun with!

Q: Out of the furni YOU made, which one do you like the most, and why?

Sparkaro: I’m pleased with how the Ancient Kapok Tree turned out with the different sizes to add some variation in room designs. It was quite a challenge to make due to its size. Drawing all those details made me descend into a leafy spiral of madness.

On the right is the Bamboo Wall sketch – the finished version is on the left.

MrCroissant: The Jungle Pulley and Tropical Pond were fun to work on and it was quite challenging to get them to work correctly.

Kukuyit: My contribution to this campaign was minimal since the production period was during my holiday, but I really enjoyed making the sloth hat! They’re just the cutest and making their butt wiggle while the Habbo avatar talks is a dream come true.

Cromsnosehair: I had most fun with Charlie the orangutan. I enjoy doing character animations and try to make them amusing when possible.

Q: For fun, could you draw us your take on a famous Habbo character (Frank, Bonnie Blonde, Santini, etc) in FULL Habbo survival gear?

Sparkaro: Sure – mine’s of Bonnie Blonde!

Kukuyit: Yep – mine is ‘Wild Frank’.

MrCroissant: I chose to sketch an Explorer Duck! Let’s call him Timothy…

Cromsnosehair: Mine is called ‘Exploraider’…

Tarzan Frank by Kukuyit, Explorer Duck by MrCroissant, Bonnie Blonde by Sparkaro and Exploraider by Cromsnosehair

Top, from left to right: Sparkaro, MrCroissant, Kukuyit. Bottom, left to right: Cromsnosehair, Elementary_Kage, notMiceElf.

HabboLympix 2016 Merchanise, by Kukuyit.

Q: Designers! How are you all today?

Sparkaro: Doing well thanks!

Kukuyit: Great thanks! But where’s the sun?! *Sobs*

Cromsnosehair: Hey there, I’m feeling peachy thanks.

Elementary_Kage: My design senses are on fire! LETS GO! 

Q: We’re here to talk about HabboLympix 2016. Which part of the design process did YOU have most fun in, and why? (Sketching, animating, a particular furni, etc).

Miss Olympus LTD, by Sparkaro

Elementary_Kage: There’s a lot of cool animation and functionality in this set of furni and I’m really looking forward to working those fun things into the marketing. The Veggie Fiend and Gym Maniac are cool and I feel like they get me pumped up to work out more. There’s also lots of colour, which is always nice!

Kukuyit: This campaign is all about having a fit and healthy lifestyle, so it made a lot of sense to have a character that promotes that. SO, we introduced Vegetable Fiend! He’s been a reoccurring side character in the past few campaigns. If anyone knows where he originated from then you’re a true Habbo fan!

Veggie Fiend, by Kukuyit

Sparkaro: I pixeled some new gym equipment furni, including a treadmill and cross trainer. They’re quite interactive and also have a new type of functionality, so it’s been a fun and interesting challenge to work on them, and also work with developers to get the new functionality working!

Cromsnosehair: I most enjoyed working on the Gym Maniac. He was fun to animate and it was a challenge to adapt the Habbo body so the legs could cycle (regular Habbo legs are a bit too short). 

Bonnie Blonde Cheerleader Rare, by Cromsnosehair

Q: If you had to participate in one Olympic sport, which one would it be and why?

Kukuyit: Hmm, which sport would I participate in… does a video games marathon count?

Sparkaro: I might stand a chance at horse riding. I once took part in a donkey derby and nearly got first place, and would have if I hadn’t fallen off the donkey just before the finish line…

Elementary_Kage: Archery! I’ve always preferred accuracy and skill-focused sports to team ones and there’s something about holding a bow and arrow, which is really cool to me. I don’t get to do archery as much as I’d like though.

Brazilian Houseplant, by Sparkaro

Cromsnosehair: If I had to compete in the Olympics I’d do taekwondo as I have freakishly long legs.

Q: Draw us what you think would be the perfect mascot for the Brazilian HabboLympix.

Elementary_Kage: This is Bobbaman, he’s the type of mascot that motivates you by pulling pranks and then running away.

Cromsnosehair: The perfect mascot has to be a super hench Frank, buffed up on Brotein.

From left, top row: ‘Hench Frank’ by Cromsnosehair, ‘Raptor Mascot’ by Sparkaro, ‘Bobbaman’ by Elementary_Kage and ‘Fitness Duck’ by Kukuyit.